April 13, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
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Terps Look For ACC Win Against UNC This Week
The fourth-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team will attempt to notch its first ACC win of the season against No. 15 North Carolina Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner of this game will be the third seed at the ACC Tournament the weekend of April 23-25, while the loser will be the fourth seed. Duke went 3-0 in ACC play and is the top seed in the tournament while Virginia went 2-1 and is seeded second.
With their pair of victories over top 10 teams a week ago, Maryland climbed from seventh to fourth in the most recent IWLCA poll.
The Terrapins have finished ACC play in fourth place just once (2002) in the seven years the conference has sponsored women's lacrosse. Maryland, the defending ACC Tournament champion, has been seeded first four times, second twice and fourth once. The Terps have never finished in third place in the conference.
Maryland (11-2) has won nine in a row, including a pair of wins over ranked opponents last week. North Carolina (7-5) has lost its last two but will face Old Dominion before taking on the Terps on Saturday.
LiveStats will be available for the game on the internet at www.umterps.com. For fans in the area, they can listen live to WMUC on 88.1 FM.
Also highlighting the game is that it is US Lacrosse Day, meaning all members can receive $2 admission when they show their card at the gate.
Last Week In Women's Lacrosse
Last week, Maryland knocked off two top 10 teams to run its winning streak to nine.
On Wednesday, it took Maryland just :19 second to flex its muscle against No. 2 Georgetown as Delia Cox raced down the field and scored, giving the Terps a lead they would not relinquish as they defeated Georgetown, 13-8.
On Saturday against Johns Hopkins, Coppedge again scored six goals - including the 200th of her career - to lead No. 7 Maryland to victory as the Terrapins defeated No. 9 Johns Hopkins, 14-11, at Homewood Field.
Scouting The Tar Heels
North Carolina is 7-5 on the year and will take on Old Dominion on Tuesday before taking on the Terps on Saturday. The Tar Heels have dropped two straight decisions, losing 14-3 to Georgetown and 12-8 to Vanderbilt.
Like Maryland, UNC is 0-2 in the ACC. The winner between the two teams will be the third seed at the ACC Tournament the weekend of April 23-25 and will play Virginia, while the loser will be the fourth seed and play Duke.
The Tar Heels have plenty of balance on offense with four players with at least 20 points. Allison Higgins leads the way with 25 points on 20 goals and five assists, while Beth Ames has a team-high 23 goals. Melissa McCarthy has 18 goals and two assists and Jess Allen has 14 goals and six assists. Chrissy Rude leads the team in assists with eight.
Katelyn Hoffman and Kristen Hordy have been splitting time in the cage for UNC. Hordy has been getting the starting nod as of late, but Hoffman has seen plenty of action in relief. Hordy has a goals-against average of 8.64 in 409 minutes, while Hoffman has a GAA of 8.04 in 321 minutes of work. Their save percentages are nearly identical, with Hordy having a .587 save percentage and Hoffman sporting a 5.78 save percentage.
Jenny Levy is in her ninth season at North Carolina and has a 103-48 record. She is a 1992 graduate of Virginia.
Maryland leads the all-time series 9-5. The series started in 1996.
Start Me Up
Maryland has been able to score first in 11 of its 13 games, but its the Terrapins ability to tally that first goal quickly that can set the tempo for the entire game.
Maryland has outscored opponents 14-3 in the first five minutes of the game, including three scores in the very first minute of action.
The Terps lead the nation in scoring offense, averaging 14.77 goals per game.
Movin On Up
Senior Kelly Coppedge, the reigning ACC Player of the Year and Tewaaraton Award candidate is moving her way up the career charts at Maryland for goals and points.
The Annapolis, Md., native is second all-time in goals with 201. She passed Kelly Amonte on April 2 with six goals against Denver. She became just the 22nd player in Division I history to score 200 goals against Johns Hopkins on April 10.
She is now third all-time in career points with 276 and ninth in career assists with 75.
During a three-game span from March 11-20, Coppedge scored an amazing 19 goals and six assists.
Coppedge was named ACC Player of the Week on March 22 for her six-goal, two assist performance against Old Dominion, in which she also recorded game-highs in caused turnovers (5) and ground balls (6).
She earned her second ACC honor a week later on March 29 after racking up nine goals and one assist in a week that saw the Terps collect three victories against ranked opponents.
Coppedge has scored nine points twice this season. She had a career-high seven goals to go with two assists against Brown. She also had nine points on six goals and three assists against Denver.
Coppedge earned her third ACC Player of the Week honors on April 12 after her 12-goal, three-assist performance helping the Terps to win over No. 2 Georgetown and No. 9 Johns Hopkins.
She has scored at least six goals in six games this season. She ranks first on the team in goals, assists, points, ground balls and caused turnovers.
Going The Extra Miles
One of the question marks for Maryland heading into the 2004 season was the play of first-year goalie Kirah Miles.
Miles has answered those questions with stellar play in the cage so far. Miles has a solid GAA of 7.71 -- best in the ACC and eighth best in the nation -- and has 105 saves on the season.
Against Virginia on March 9, Miles stopped 17 shots, the most since another Villanova, Pa. native, Alex Kahoe, stopped 21 shots in the NCAA finals on May 17, 1998, also against Virginia.
Miles was also key against Georgetown, making 13 saves against the second-ranked Hoyas. She helped limit Georgetown to just 4-10 on free-position shots.
Magic Number: 10
If Maryland can score double-digit goals, chances are the Terps will be able to come away with the victory. The Terps are 11-0 this season when scoring at least 10 goals, while in both Maryland losses the Terrapins have failed to crack double-digits.
The last time Maryland lost when scoring at least 10 goals was April 21, 2002, North Carolina defeated the Terps 11-10 at the ACC Tournament.
